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I think the key to the overall look of the top includes mininum material over the header and keeping the proper thickness of the top over the doors. Too thin looks bad and too thick looks like a big marshmellow. Very difficult to describe in words we have one that is 21 years old and still looks great. The car is 51 Mercury Convertible at Rik's site under Paul Bragg. I have extensive construction photos of a 51 Ford top and I will try to get them on digital when I get home and I will post them. tinguy

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Well lavenderblue, as you can now see there are still a few doing nice Carson Top customs the right way. hudsoncustom, that '40 Merc is a great example, thanks for posting the pics and when you get time, let's see those "pics of the process..." you got, nice job on the top Rajo1. The restoration of the Carson Top and interior on Ralph Jilek's-Valley Custom '40 is simply stunning, the pictures are very interesting. I've been lucky enough to have been able to dig into a couple of original Carson Tops myself, they were amazing time capsules. Also seen Scott Guildner build a few Carson style padded tops, he definatly has the eye for making them look correct. Rikster, thanks for the pics and info, your passion for all things custom, never ceases to amaze me. Thanks again for all your work, it's much appreciated and that '51 Merc you just posted, perfection is right!

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As usual Rickster has posted some very intresting stuff w/ good historical reference just like we all like to see, and i hope that this will be the case for a long time.....
At the moment im in my old apartment picking up sum stuff to bring in my new home, so i dont have much time to search for cool stuff, but will tomorrow in the 1st break i get at work.
These here are the Coppa Cruiser, a UK cutom made out of a Austin, ive seen it in peerson many years ago and you wont believe how small this car is! Never the less an impressive one and the top is just right.
Others are a swedish chevy,(?)at least i think its a chevy, and a couple of very famous ones.
Nick.

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The top on this Buick (OSW, Sweden) is spot on. The portions are great! Of course the Valley Custom Ford is stunning, to say the least. Don't think it can be improved on. Don't care for most of the modern interpretations, shown in this thread.

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I agree with Dragnut and Hudsoncustom, green merc is right looking if you want early carson style. Carson and Gaylord had somewhat different styles. Gaylord had more slope in the back and Carson had a slightly more abrupt break in front of the back window. Original Carson tops were soft from the back of the quarter window and rear bow to the rear body panel. The rear of the top sides snap to the quarters and the upper rear body. the rear window snapped to the upper rear body on a separate flap. Snaps were inside the carson roll and problems arose when the stay-fast material got old and schrunk. It was not a good idea to remove the snaps when the top got tight. on the inside the headliner stopped at the rear bow. The heavy glass and frame caused the rear window flap to sag. We use a steel frame around the rear of the back corners and across the back window to avoid the shrinkage problem. I think the key to the overall look of the top includes mininum material over the header and keeping the proper thickness of the top over the doors. Too thin looks bad and too thick looks like a big marshmellow. Very difficult to describe in words we have one that is 21 years old and still looks great. The car is 51 Mercury Convertible at Rik's site under Paul Bragg. I have extensive construction photos of a 51 Ford top and I will try to get them on digital when I get home and I will post them. tinguy

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Any one out there have any photos of Eric Parsons or Perkins from Washington state his 36 roadster was shot at Bonnieville in the late 70's or early 80's and made most of the magazines at that time his top had no back window but I remember it look damn good............

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Great to see this thread headed in the RIGHT direction. Some killer examples of early and modern day tops. Thanks to Rikster for all the great shots and the link to the Tom Sewell redo on the Jilek car. How cool is it to see the original top broken down so meticulously?
A very big hats off to Tom for the documentation of the restoration as well as an awesome finished product! Also, welcome to Paul Bragg (tinguy) and thanks for chiming in. Aaron and I first remember seeing your olive Merc at an early Paso show (late eighties?) and just being blown away. Perfect top chop, stance, and color choice. You nailed the carson top on your other Merc of course. Keep 'em coming fellas!! D.

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Great thread , Thanks for the info guys . I finally dropped my 36 cabriolet at the upholstery shop this morning , I was choosing materials and the closest thing to white I saw in Haartz Stayfast was "bone" ? What are guys using ? My buddy said he'd check with the supplier also , but I thought I'd check here . Also , an oldtimer friend said way back when they would have the top material wrapped around the rear window frame so all you can see is the glass , I've looked at a lot of old pix /books/Rikster's site etc. and it seems like most of them you can see the chrome frame . He swears the "good" cars had the frame hidden , I'm not sure which way to go . I went with a really dark oxblood for the seats and panels , thinking about white piping to set it off . I always really liked it to set off the carpet like on the Matranga Merc. etc. what do you guys think about it on oxblood seats and door panels as well as the carpet ? I don't think I want full 2 tone int. but a little flash to set it off a bit though . I was thinking about oxblood piping on the white headliner to set it off , that's what my old original top has on it if you guys have seen my build thread . Dash is black , do guys think I should run really dark burgundy or black carpet ? Both with white trim . Sorry for the hijack and Thanks for any help/opinions .

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What year is this cadillac ? F#%K I just cant stop drooling over this thing. For all you airbag "Frame Laying" people, take a look at this caddy and look at the stance. Now that is the way a Kustom should sit, not slammed on all four corners.

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"For all you airbag "Frame Laying" people, take a look at this caddy and look at the stance. Now that is the way a Kustom should sit, not slammed on all four corners."

Amen. For traditional kustoms, I like the front end slightly lower than stock (2-3") and dropped in the back for the speed boat look. The "busted spring" look is new and only possible with air bags. To each his own I guess.

I guess its kind of like chops. If 3" looks good, 6" must be better right?

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What year is this cadillac ? F#%K I just cant stop drooling over this thing. For all you airbag "Frame Laying" people, take a look at this caddy and look at the stance. Now that is the way a Kustom should sit, not slammed on all four corners.

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To answer you question what year it is, I think it is a 47..I might be wrong...I do agree on it being the perfect stance too...

I also cant stop looking at the Ralph Jilek Ford. There was a write up on it in the most recent Rodders Journal. Along with the 2 part of a two part series on Valley Custom. Just a stunning Custom.

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What year is this cadillac ? F#%K I just cant stop drooling over this thing. For all you airbag "Frame Laying" people, take a look at this caddy and look at the stance. Now that is the way a Kustom should sit, not slammed on all four corners.

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how do know it isn't bagged? you can also certainly obtain that stance with bags.

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it actually does have air bags in the rear, but not the same kind that drops cars to the ground. it has dearched stock springs in back.
it has like helper bags.

here is a quote from rod and custom

The original Cadillac frame was used but boxed for additional strength, with square tubing crossmembers constructed and new engine mounts welded in place. The original front suspension was completely refurbished along with the Cadillac front brakes. The stock rear springs were de-arched to get the right ride height, then Air Ride airbags were added to the rear suspension to compensate for additional loads when traveling and to aid when tire changing is necessary. A '58 Pontiac rearend with 3.23:1 gears and Quarter Master axles was bolted to the new springs and the rear drum brakes rebuilt.

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how do know it isn't bagged? you can also certainly obtain that stance with bags.

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Yes you can get that look with bags!!!! But how many people this day and age have there car sit like this if they have airbags???? Dont worry I'll wait. Not to many,9 out of ten cars "with bags lay frame and you know it. This is the stance that a period traditional Kustom should have . NUFF SAID !!!!!